


Sunshine On The Street At The Parade

by grapefruitghostie



Series: SPN Pride Bingo 2020 [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Asexual Jack Kline, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Demisexual Castiel (Supernatural), Drag Makeup, Genderqueer Jack Kline, Glitter, M/M, Pansexual Castiel (Supernatural), Pansexual Jack Kline, Pansexual Sam Winchester, Pride Parades, Team Free Will 2.0 (Supernatural), Title from a Taylor Swift Song, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24636799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapefruitghostie/pseuds/grapefruitghostie
Summary: Spaces Filled: pride parade, glitter
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: SPN Pride Bingo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773490
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Sunshine On The Street At The Parade

**Author's Note:**

> This is,,,, *sighs dreamily*

“I just realized something,” Sam said, turning to his brother who was dressed as festively as his wardrobe would allow, a navy shirt and a purple flannel - because the flannel was his safety blanket and he was only a lot anxious about this. He’d also let Jack dust some pink blush over his cheeks and nose to complete the look.

”What?” 

“We’ve never been to a parade before,” The younger chuckled, “I mean, even as kids we never went to a holiday parade or anything.”

Dean hummed in acknowledgement, but Castiel was the one to speak up from the backseat. “I think its fitting.”

Sam, wearing a soft pink shirt and his favorite yellow-and-blue flannel, smiled at that comment and he turned towards Cas. It had taken all morning to convince Cas to wear something from Dean’s closet because - let’s face it - the oversized trench coat could be a little bit intimidating. He looked good; little pan flags drawn under his eyes with face paint, a white shirt and simple blue jeans. He refused to give up his dress shoes, but Dean assured him they were cute. 

It was kind of funny how they all got to be here. Dean was out to Sam and Cas, but he never really mentioned it to Jack. It wasn’t that he was hiding it, but he wasn’t the _Hey, my name’s Dean Winchester I’m bisexual_ type.

Jack actually brought it up first. Dean had flippantly told Jack that he’d give him _The Talk,_ not actually thinking the kid would remember the offhand comment and expect any kind of talk. During the conversation, though, he began to explain different types if couples, and he could see the lightbulb in Jack’s mind go on in understanding. 

After that day, Jack invested a lot of his time researching LGBT+ and one morning over breakfast he told the group triumphantly that he was genderqueer, panromantic and asexual. Sam proceeded to dive into the topic, eventually realizing _oh, theres a word for the way I feel_ , and coming out as pansexual later in the week.

It was during this week that Jack had also discovered social media and, through that, local events and he excitedly told his dads about the upcoming Topeka Pride. Although Castiel and Sam thought it was a great idea, Dean was a bit more reserved - 40 years of internalized homophobia and whatnot. Begrudgingly though, he finally agreed to tag along. 

Jack had dragged Sam to the grocery store nearly the moment Dean agreed because he said he wanted to try makeup. Sam had bought himself the pink shirt that he was wearing because he was more reserved to the concept of wearing the makeup and, truthfully, he didn’t think there was a single _pink_ article of clothing in the bunker.

They found that Jack was actually pretty good at makeup, he seamlessly winged white eyeliner over his lids, one eye had the pan flag in eyeshadow and the other had the asexual flag. The look was simple and, just like Cas, he wore a white t-shirt and faded jeans.

Unlike the others, however, Jack had sprinkled purple and blue glitter in his hair. He had to do it quickly, before Dean could take it away because _c’mon man! Glitter is the_ _worst_ and he knew exactly what the answer would be if he’d just asked. 

When they arrived in Topeka, Dean couldn’t believe the amount of people that had turned up. He had to park two blocks away for Christ’s sake! But the kid was happy - they _all_ were happy. It felt nice.

As they neared the entrance to the event, Dean felt the anxiety bubbling in his throat. Oh, he was going to be sick. Thankfully, Jack and Sam were too caught up in their conversation to notice, but Castiel grabbed his hand. He whipped around to face Cas - his lover, his best friend, his confidant, his strong shoulder. 

“Take a deep breath,” Cas offered in a reassuringly hushed tone and squeezed his hand.

Dean smiled and nodded, thanking him for being there to holdi his hand. It felt good - holding a hand in public. He hadn’t done this in _years_. Not since Lisa, probably. Despite the fact that Dean was a very affectionate lover, he feared holding Castiel’s hands in public because of the way people would act. But Dean felt safe here in this crowd. He swiftly kissed Castiel’s temple, who just responded by wrapping his other arm around Dean’s and clinging to him.

They stood on the sidewalk dumbfounded at the people in the parade handing out pins and business cards and water bottles and bracelets. It was astonishing, the kindness that filled the air like a little safe bubble over Topeka. Even though they had missed the beginning of the parade, they were able to follow the crowd up to where the festival was; that was the exciting part.

They bumped against people who seemed to be perspiring glitter as they followed the brightly colored crowd through the security gates. They stepped into the open space in a near single file - Sam, Jack, Dean, Castiel - before standing again as a group to take it all in. 

“This is a little overwhelming,” Sam admitted, trying to take it all in.

”Where do we even start?” Castiel asked. 

Before anyone could reply though, Jack was grabbing his wrist and pulling him - and, consequently, Dean - towards a booth that sold every pride flag.

”We should get some!” He said, kind of matter-of-factly and Dean chuckled.

”I think so too,” Sam agreed, finally having caught up with his family.

They shifted through bins of flags in little plastic bags but finally they came back with four - one pansexual, one bisexual, one demisexual, and one genderqueer. Dean pulled his wallet from his pocket to pay the vendor, noticing the glitter that transferred from his hand to his wallet and choosing not to be mad about it. 

“What do we do with them, though?” Castiel asked. 

They looked around to take cues from other people. Suddenly, Dean took the package from his lover’s hands and unwrapped it, tossing the plastic in a nearby bin. He carefully wrapped the flag around Castiel’s shoulders as if it were the softest blanket and tied the corners loosely around his neck.

Castiel smiled at this and couldn’t help but hug Dean close. And not one of those _we’re Winchester’s, oooo big manly_ kind of hugs either. Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean’s ribs and pressed his face against the worn purple flannel, and Dean hugged around his shoulders fondly.   
  
Before they knew it, Sam and Jack had joined in their hug. Dean laughed but accepted it, holding his small family so tightly as if they might disappear if he let up at all. Sam was resting his head on top of Castiel’s, taking in the moment. This was one of the first times they’d ever done anything just because they _wanted_ to _for themselves_. And it was a beautiful thing for them to be doing for themselves.   
  
The four eventually detached themselves, sweltering under the southern June sun and having just passed various shades of glitter from one (Jack’s hair, mostly) to each other. Dean tied his flag around his neck just as he’d done for Cas, and he watched fondly as the other two did the same.

They ended up staying for another four and a half hours. There was an outdoor concert area, and they all grabbed a drink and sat on the lawn to watch the show. Sam bought a shirt and a metal tumblr, Jack bought a few shirts, Cas bought a rainbow sherpa throw and Dean bought them lunch at four different street vendors. They took pictures with the protesters and made new friends who (thankfully) didn’t know them already. 

When they finally climbed back into the Impala, it was two fourty-five and the sun was beginning to beat down on them. They drove back to the bunker, laughing and chatting about things that they’d seen or people they’d met. 

Once at the bunker, they spent the afternoon hanging up the flags in their rooms, washing their new shirts and blanket, and then taking turns spending an hour in the shower room trying to scrub the glitter from their skin and hair. The glitter never entirely washed out, and now it was all over the shower room floor. 

Sam made spaghetti that night, while Jack and Castiel helped Dean set up the living room for family night - a tradition they had adopted when Mary was around. They hauled out a few board games and sat around the coffee table in their pajamas drinking beers. It was a nice tradition and, although they all wished Mary could be there with them, they made the most of it every time. 

Funnily enough, less than a week later they caught a case in Topeka. Dean jokingly thanked the vamp for at least waiting until week after pride to kill anyone, and the brothers headed out. 

As they were stopped getting gas, Sam grabbed a local paper as per his usual. He flipped through it, absently searching for the obits when a photo caught his attention. It was in an article about last week’s pride event, and they photo was of the four of them standing on the lawn in a group hug. 

Sam thought it was a little weird to see the four of them from a third point of view, but he had to admit that the photo was powerful and he understood why the journalist chose to use it. Whoever had taken it - some woman named Emily West was credited - had done an amazing job capturing the way that they felt in that moment.   
  
He showed Dean the article and the photo, who just looked at it for a good couple of minutes and then joked, “Well, Sammy, looks like we gotta get a frame.”


End file.
